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3 beautiful ceiling designs to inspire

Blue and white dining room/Photography: Julia Dags/Paint and wallpaper can play well together, proves designer Prudence Bailey.

It's official—eye-catching ceilings are trending now. But what makes for a statement-making ceiling? For Prudence Bailey, designer and founder of Prudence Home and Design, the trend is more than a flash-in-the pan; it's a vital element of her approach to design.

Blue and white dining room/Photography: Julia Dags/"I wanted to create a jewel box and felt the sisal deep navy ceiling wallcovering would achieve a richness and texture paint that couldn't achieve," Prudence says of this dining room.

"I absolutely love ceilings!" says Prudence. "Painting or wallpapering a ceiling can really create such a 'wow factor' in a room. A good ceiling moment is when you can't imagine the room without the ceiling paint or wallpaper that's there."

White and black bedroom/Photography: Stephane Kossmann/"I pick the paint that will best support the design and its colors to truly shine. If I am not going bold with paint, I always choose a white to support the colors of my designs," says Prudence of paint choice.

Prudence's process for ceiling design is something of an art-meets-science scenario. "Most times, the ceiling begs me to do something with it because it's perfectly isolated with the crown molding. However, I don't just do something to a ceiling just to do it. It has to help tell the story of the room and what we are trying to say about the room and who uses it."

Living area with deep blue ceiling/Photography: Stephane Kossmann/A lacquered ceiling draws eyes up in this otherwise neutral living space.

She's not opposed to leaving a ceiling white...but keeps her eyes open for other rooms in the house where a statement might work. "Sometimes, it makes sense to paint the ceiling white and let the rest of the room shine. However, I always find a room in a client project that has a ceiling moment, maybe even more than one!"